


Sanctuary

by justcallmecappy



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Arno/Elise - Freeform, ArnoxElise, Assassin's Creed Unity - Freeform, Drabble, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8132293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justcallmecappy/pseuds/justcallmecappy
Summary: [AC Unity] In a rare moment of quietness and peace, Élise de la Serre reflects on the demands of vengeance, and if she is meant to sacrifice her only chance at a future to atone for the past.





	

He was still asleep, now. 

She gazed upon his sleeping face fondly, lovingly -- adoration rising in her chest as she took in the darkness of his lashes; his slightly-parted lips; locks of hair falling across his face and the faint white scar that ran across the bridge of his nose onto his left cheek.

When he was asleep, it was almost as if he was a different person. Awake, his dark eyes would be roving and bright, sharp and observing as they swept the room, illuminated with thoughts he rarely gave voice to. He'd be wearing a half-smile as he made some smart, sardonic remark that would make the others around him shake their heads at his nerve, or laugh out loud, unable to help themselves.

But when he slept ... he looked almost childlike, innocent. Like she could forgive him of anything. His brow was smooth and relaxed, absent of the creases of worry and concentration that so often accompanied his waking thoughts. She almost wanted to kiss him now, for how sweet he looked; but she did not want to wake him. Instead she merely drew closer, finding that warm space under his chin at the crook of his neck where she felt most at home, so close she could almost hear his heartbeat.

Unconsciously he drew his arm around her and pulled her closer. In the cold of the morning, the warmth of his body pressed against hers was comforting and lulling her into a peaceful drowsiness. A familiar longing welled up in her heart again -- that painful aching that wished, so terribly, that this could be all there was to life. That there would be countless mornings like this to look forward to, all sweeping and endless and bright.

But then, at the back of her head, there it was again -- a certain looming shadow lurking just beyond where the light could reach. The past haunted her; right outside the doors to her sanctuary, always there, always waiting. She knew this peace she felt now would be short-lived -- there was a price that needed to be paid, and the cost of it would be in blood. This, like all things, would not last forever.

_Nothing lasted forever._

The past would always lurk in that dark, echoing space in her heart, screaming for vengeance. She would always feel that cruel demanding for things to be set right, that burden of obligation weigh cruelly on her shoulders. 

Unless she was with _him_.

Here, nestled in his arms and listening to the softness of his breathing, the past was just a faint echo; the future a blurred, bright haze over the horizon. All she had, all that filled her thoughts, was this moment. She snuggled closer, closing her eyes tightly and willing for all her burdens and all the screams in her head to melt away. 

 _Let me have this moment_ , she pleaded, _just this moment. And then I promise I will do what must be done._

She felt him stir awake; she looked up at him as his eyes blinked open with a slow, faint smile.

"Élise," he whispered. He always said her name with a quiet reverence, as if he did not get enough chances to say it. "Good morning."

She could not resist but to lay a light kiss upon his forehead. "It's cold," she said, playfully, and he laughed softly and drew her in a tighter embrace.

"We better go find our clothes, then," he suggested, his voice still low and half-awake, but it seemed like neither of them wanted to take up that suggestion, just yet. They lay together in silence for a while. He drew closer, pressed his lips to her forehead with a tender, contented murmur, and she felt him gently stroke the back of her head.

Élise let the slow rhythm of his hand lull her into a sense of peace. She must have stirred or sighed, because he stopped and drew back slowly to look at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked. He tapped the center of her forehead lightly with his forefinger. "You're frowning."

Élise blinked, meeting his smile, but she saw genuine concern glisten in his eyes. She bit her lip, wondering how to put her thoughts into words.

"I do not know if things can be this simple," she admitted. "I don't know what is going to happen to us, once all of this is over. I don't know if this is meant to last."

He looked troubled for a moment, a shadow flickering in his eyes, and she immediately regretted her words. But then a second later, she saw his gaze soften; then he smiled, reassuringly, and ran his fingers through her hair. "Élise -- I do not know what the future holds. But what I do know is that I'm working towards making it better, for both of us. And I know that I love you. That will never change."

Élise saw herself reflected in his dark eyes. The harsh voices in her head were hushed, for a moment, silenced by the warmth of his words. Somehow she could see a glimmer of the future, bright and pristine, removed of all the bloodstains of the past. And she wanted, more than anything, to believe in it.

"I only feel like myself when I'm with you, Arno," she murmured, not realizing how true her words were until she had spoken them.

He looked at her, then, the smile drifting from his face into something more somber. Without hesitating, he drew her closer and held onto her, until it felt as if their two separate heartbeats had melted into one.

_I'm only myself when I'm with you._

But even nestled in his arms, listening to the tranquil sounds of morning and basking in the warmth of the sunlight, she knew that this, too, will eventually be taken from her.


End file.
